My great thanks to HighFlyingWings, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!

IMPORTANT: HighFlyingWings informed me that he would no longer be able to beta read the story from the 10th of March onwards, so if anyone else has some experience and the willingness to help, feel free to let me know! I do my work on Googledocs, and the benefits involves getting a first look at the next chapters, and I tend to be more willing to give spoilers for future story arcs.

M-City, Apartment Building:

I knocked at the door, waiting patiently for the man inside to come investigate who was at his apartment.

A few seconds later, a voice called out "I'm coming!" before I heard footsteps, followed by the door slightly opening and a very recognizable man blinking up at me.

King, the newest of the S-Class heroes, stared up at me with a curious expression.

I could feel a measure of nervousness coming from him, but nothing too bad for now.

And in his defense, having a giant of a man built like a brick house looking down at you would make most people nervous as well.

"Can I help you?" he asked curiously.

I extended my right hand towards him with a smile. "Perhaps I can help you. I'm the Good Hunter."

King shook my hand, before freezing, his eyes widening. "Wait, that Good Hunter?!" he exclaimed.

"The god, yes." I replied with amusement.

To his credit, he was able to hide his nervousness really well, even when I felt his anxiety spike through the roof.

"May I enter? We have a lot to talk about, and quite a bit shouldn't be told in public." I politely requested, and I felt a moment where King no doubt wanted nothing more than to close the door and pretend I wasn't here, but after another second he opened the door fully and stepped aside.

"Of course." he said, waving me inside, his expression betraying nothing of his internal freak-out.

I smiled and nodded, before entering his home.

Quickly removing my coat and hat and putting it all away, I followed King deeper inside.

Despite his status as a S-Class hero, his apartment wasn't actually all that large, which made sense when you considered the truth of the man.

Of course, that meant I actually ended up noticing the impressive collection of consoles and games the man possessed, and I had to restrain a grin when King glanced towards what I was looking at only to freeze in shock, no doubt thinking that being a hardcore gamer didn't play well with his reputation.

*THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.*

Ah, and the infamous King Engine finally started. Well then.

"A true gamer, huh?" I mused, before chuckling and stopping King when he was about to try and say something. "You know, so am I. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with such hobbies in the S-Class."

King blinked in shock, sending me a surprised look. "You play video games?" he asked, visibly stunned at the news.

I resisted the urge to laugh. "Oh, you might say that I'm very familiar indeed with the idea of being a Gamer."

I shook my head, before taking a seat in his living room and sending him a look. "But I am not here to talk about myself. I'm here… to talk about you."

"Me?" he inquired, the anxiety which had faded at the revelation that I didn't mind him being a gamer returning in full.

I gave him a long look. "You know, you might be able to fool others, but I'm a god of Truth, among other things. You could never have hidden the fact that you barely ever fought more than a fly in your life from me."

King froze, a bead of sweat finally appearing on his face.

*THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.*

Oh, and the King Engine was back. Also wow, that is a lot of fear that you're radiating.

Then again, potentially furious god in your living room. It'd be foolish to NOT be terrified half to death.

"So with that being said, I have a single question for you."

I summoned a cup of tea, took a sip, before looking at him in the eyes, my expression betraying nothing of my thoughts and feelings.

King wasn't the only one who could pull off a perfect poker face.

Which certainly seemed to work, as he stumbled back slightly, the fear he was radiating growing, and the sweat on his face increasing.

The poor man seemed to almost jump out of his skin when his back hit the wall behind him.

"W-What…" he licked his lips, trembling slightly. "What is it?"

I kept my impassive look for a time, King visibly sweating under my gaze while his heartbeat filled the room with a loud thumping noise…

And then I smirked.

"How would you like to truly be a S-Class hero, King?" I proposed.

He blinked, his anxiety falling in favor of confusion.

"What?"

"You heard me. You are no more powerful than any other regular human out there… But I can change that. Make you King, a powerful hero, in truth, rather than through deceit. So tell me. Intrigued?" I asked, taking another sip of my tea with a grin.

"You… You want to make me a hero?" he stammered, visibly shocked.

I nodded, and looked at him frankly. "As far as the world is concerned, you already are. One of the strongest heroes, at that. So the way I see it, there are two possible outcomes from my presence here today."

I lift a finger. "First, I will help you hide the truth of things for a while. Then, when the time is right, I will announce that, at my request, you took on the deeds of another hero in training, so that said hero would be free to finish his training and become as powerful as he can possibly become without anyone able to stop it until it was too late."

I lifted another finger. "Or, I give you the means of becoming the legendary hero the world believes you to be, and when the time comes, you can stand before the hero who actually killed all the monsters the Association credited you for killing as a genuine hero in your own right, rather than a fake who used his deeds for his own benefits."

King stiffened. "Wait, you know who actually keeps saving me from monsters?!" he exclaimed in shock.

I smiled softly. "I do. I take it you tried to find that out yourself and never succeeded?"

He paused, before nodding slowly, a complex mix of emotions in his eyes. "I did. I… I wanted to say thank you." he whispered.

"But he was nowhere to be seen in the Association." I finished knowingly.

He nodded in agreement. "No. No matter how hard I searched, no one from the Association seemed to fit the bill."

"Make sense." I replied. "Since he isn't a member of the Association. For the time being, he's an independent. I do plan to have him join the Association eventually, or at least make the offer, but…"

I trailed off, then looked at King in the eyes.

"That man has the potential to one day be the strongest hero, hell the strongest human in the world."

His eyes widened in shock, and I chuckled. "Indeed. Which is why only me and a handful of others know about him, and we intend to keep things that way. At least until he's grown powerful enough that no one and nothing can stop his growth anymore."

King fell silent, before finally coming closer and all but collapsing on a nearby seat, looking faintly stunned.

I gave him a moment, though I created a second cup of tea for him. Frankly, he really looked like he could use one right now.

King blinked at the sudden cup of tea in front of him, glanced at me, before taking it and cautiously taking a sip.

His instant hum of delight made me smile.

Then he sighed, and looked at me.

"So, what exactly did you plan on doing if I accepted your offer?

"I'd bless you with a very specific power that is perfectly suited to you." I replied with a grin.

He frowned. "Which one?"

"Having powers like that of a video game character." I replied.

He blinked at me.

I grinned. "What, you never read manga about being a real-life Gamer?"

King opened his mouth.

Closed it.

"... That's actually possible?" he asked, sounding bewildered and delighted in equal measure.

I chuckled, then extended my right hand towards him.

"Care to find out, King?" I challenged.

King stared at me, then at my hand, then back at me.

For a long moment, he said nothing, visibly lost in thought.

"Would I really be able to meet him as a hero?" he finally asked, an underlying current of hope coursing through him.

"You will." I said firmly, but with a hint of sympathy in my voice.

I was looking forward to the day where I'd get to meet Ludwig again myself.

The man was the closest to a true hero I have yet to see, in both skill and personality, and while I knew that no time had passed in Yharnam since I left the place, I couldn't help but mourn the fact that I would have loved to have him here with me in the Association.

He would have been delighted to be part of a group of heroes willing to fight for the people, I am sure.

Alas… Ah well. There would be other opportunities in the future.

For now…

King visibly hesitated, then took a deep breath…

And took my hand.

And then he blinked, when suddenly a bunch of screens appeared before him.

The first had one word at the top:

*STATUS.*

I smiled.

Beware monsters, the King had arrived.

"What do you mean, I have a skill called 'King Engine'?! Inflict Fear and Despair status effect? Can cause death at higher levels?! What?!"

Well, once he recovers from the latest revelation, at least, I thought with amusement at the wide-eyed man in front of me.

-

"So, I just-"

"Throw a fireball at it, yeah."

King and I glanced at the frog-like monster I had telekinetically frozen in place, before King took a deep breath, extended his right hand forward, and screamed "Fireball!"

A human-sized fireball erupted from his palm and flew at the monster, sending it flying as I released my "grip" on it, and we both once again looked at it.

"It's dead." I confirmed.

King blinked.

Then he smiled. "That was AWESOME!"

I chuckled, completely understanding. "Using magic is incredible, isn't it? Doubly so when it lets you blow up monsters."

"Yeah. Also, as we hoped, I leveled up a bunch of times." he replied, looking thoughtfully at the status screen he called up using his Gamer powers.

I nodded. "Sounds about right. Though as I said, don't expect me to keep holding the monsters for you. You need some real combat experience if you want to truly be a S-Class hero."

King shivered slightly at the thought of actually fighting monsters, but he nodded.

"I'm not looking forward to it, though." he muttered.

I smirked. "We'll see if you think the same once you are powerful enough to trivialize most fights against monsters."

-

I carefully eyed my target, bow in hand, the arrow glowing with heat from the Fire Infusion I had coursing through it.

As a result, it almost looked like an arrow made of light from the white-hot flames, but it was actually just a regular arrow… just one infused with white-hot flames.

I released my shot, the arrow quickly blazing a trail across the sky before impacting the monster I was aiming at, the heat of the arrow causing its flesh to all but disintegrate on impact.

The monster keeled over, dead before it hit the ground, looking like someone shot a plasma bolt through its brain.

"Your turn."

King exhaled, focused-

And released.

His arrow was visibly on fire compared to mine, his skill with Fire Infusion not as good as mine was for the time being, and when the arrow hit, it hit the body of the monster he was aiming at rather than its head.

It still sent the monster falling back with a visible shout of agony as his body was pierced through and set on fire.

King didn't waste time, a second arrow quickly flying through the air and impacting the monster, making it jerk before falling down.

We both peered at it with (Insight) for me and (Observe) for King, before King took out a third arrow and sent it flying.

A moment later, he nodded.

"My Archery skill leveled up. Same with Fire Infusion."

"Still a way to go, but you're getting there. Come on, let's find some more target practice."

We started walking forward, bows and arrows at the ready.

The local monster population was in for a bad time today…

-

"Aeon!" King screamed in terror.

Or well, I knew it was terror. To anyone else, it would be a manly bellow speaking of a great deal of annoyance.

Naturally, I just gave King a thumbs up and a smile. "Come on, you can do it! I believe in you!"

"AAAAAEEEEEOOOONNNN!" he screamed.

"You've got it! Only-" I looked around at the monsters surrounding King.

The hundreds of monsters surrounding King.

While he was busy fighting them with only CQC as he had already wiped out his magic reserves.

"- a few hundred left to go!" I cheerfully shouted.

"I hate yyyyyooooouuuu!" he screamed, barely dodging a deadly sharp tail from taking his head off.

"Come on! They are just Tiger and Wolf-level threats! You'll be fiiiiine!" I shouted back, smirking.

I chuckled as my only reply was an incomprehensible scream of mortal terror.

The fact all the monsters flinched back because they believed that King was going on a berserker rampage amongst them made everything so much funnier.

Honestly though, a Gamer grows best when given an all-you-can-kill exp buffet. And one was right there for him, lovingly gathered together by yours truly!

Wasn't I a kind, devoted sempai/teacher?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Why yes, yes I was!

"Come on, King! More strength in that right hook! Are you an old grandma or a Hero?"

Truly, training King to know how to fight without using Gamer's Mind as a crutch was the best idea ever, and I had no idea why he made such a fuss about it!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

No idea at all!

-

King stared at the monster.

*THUMP THUMP THUMP.*

The house-sized monster gulped.

King narrowed his eyes.

*THUMP THUMP THUMP.*

The house-sized monster froze, a look of pure terror on its face.

King scowled.

*THUMP THUMP THUMP.*

The house-sized monster let out a keening hiss, its eyes rolling up its head before it fell loudly backwards, foaming at the mouth, passed out in sheer terror.

King blinked.

"Huh. That actually worked. And I leveled up my King Engine skill…"

"Oh yeah of little faith." I said dramatically, appearing by his side. "I told you it would, didn't I?"

"You also said I could handle that Hydra-like monster." he said, his voice more dry than a desert.

I shrugged. "Well it died in the end, no?"

"After half an hour of me running around in terror!"

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure the monster was more terrified of you than you were of it…" I mused.

King jerked. "It kept bellowing in fury-"

"-mortal terror, more like-"

"-stomping its way all over the place-"

"-more like desperately trying to escape the cave you confronted it in-"

"-And spitting poison everywhere!"

"-I think it just got dizzy and terrified enough by the end of it that it started puking its guts out…"

King huffed, and I shook my head with a smile.

Poor guy really needed to work on his (Empathy) skill.

Also, build up more confidence in himself.

King sighed. "Anyway, what's next?"

I smiled.

King's heart started beating really loudly at the sight.

"CQC training!"

He blanched.

"With me!"

"Oh fuck!"

"Don't worry, I'll hold back the mountain-shattering punches back! For now…"

"FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!"

"Less cursing, more training! Have at you!"

And then I started casting Fist at him.

-

"Look King! Here is your last training opponent before I declare your training complete!"

King stared at the monster.

Then at me.

Then back at the monster.

The miles-tall Black Dragon monster, its aura bringing terror to even legions of lesser monsters, its shadow darkening entire valleys, and its flames hot enough to be able to melt pretty much anything in existence, stood in all of its unholy glory before us.

King looked back at me.

"What."

I smiled, slapping him in the back. "I have full confidence in you! I know that you can do it! Have fun!"

Then I teleported out.

King stared at the spot I just stood on.

Then he looked back at the dragon.

The dragon met his gaze.

The King Engine roared to life.

The dragon froze, before bellowing a challenge and flying straight at King.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

King screamed back.

The ground shattered.

Power enough to make the dragon shudder mid-flight slammed down upon miles upon miles of ground.

The clouds in the sky were pushed away from the area so hard that none could be seen any longer with the naked eye.

A look of terror entered the dragon's eyes, who desperately tried to stop itself from coming closer to THE King, the proclaimed Strongest Man in the World (gods not included).

The dragon failed, crashing roughly on the ground instead.

King kept screaming, King Engine at full blast.

Far away from it, I munched on popcorn, idly wondering what the dragon would think if it knew that King was screaming in fear, not berserker rage.

Then I shook the thought off.

It was King.

There was no way in hell it would ever believe that.

*CRACK!*

I blinked.

Huh. Did… Did the dragon just break its neck in the crash landing?

It did!

King OP, PLZ Nerf!

-

King and I stared at the picture in the newspaper.

Here, in bold letters above it, was written "King kills potential God-level threat without even moving!"

Followed by an incredible description of how King, through sheer fucking will and without taking a single step, slammed the Black Dragon to the ground and broke every bone in its body.

Because somehow, someway, a reporter was at the right place at the right time to see the whole thing and take pictures.

My True Self cheerfully informed me it had nothing to do with any of it.

Our eyes met.

"You know, for the first time in a long, long time, I'm the one who has to say this towards someone else."

I took a deep breath.

"SUCH! FUCKING! BULLSHIT!"

-

The door opened, and Tatsumaki saw Fubuki's surprised face staring at her.

She frowned, before looking into the building, feeling the presence of the Blizzard Group still hanging around.

She scowled, but quickly looked back at Fubuki, expression easing slightly.

"Sister! What are you doing here?" curiously asked Fubuki.

Tatsumaki stared at her for a moment, trying to feel out her sister's psychic presence.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, before they looked into the building.

"Can I enter? And tell your… group… to make themselves scarce. I don't want them to interrupt us."

Fubuki blinked, eyes narrowing thoughtfully at her.

Tatsumaki gave her a look that made it clear that she didn't want to waste time, but she could tell that Fubuki had been able to learn something from her own Empathic abilities.

"Alright." Fubuki finally replied, opening the door fully and letting Tatsumaki enter.

She did so, going straight for the living room, sitting down on a seat around a large table.

Not long after, she could feel all the presence of her sister's hanger-ons leaving, making her relax slightly.

Then Fubuki came back, two steaming cups of tea floating at her side.

Tatsumaki quickly took hold of one with her power, leaving it to float before her.

Fubuki cautiously sat down, giving her a concerned look. "What's going on, sis? I can feel how troubled you are about something."

Tatsumaki didn't immediately reply, and instead took a sip of her tea.

She instinctively grimaced, not even because the tea was bad, but because it was far worse than Aeon's tea.

That thought made her scowl.

"Sister?"

Tatsumaki glanced at Fubuki's increasingly concerned expression.

Tatsumaki still said nothing, staying silent for a moment more, before finally speaking up.

"I always felt like I had been a good sister for you." she declared.

Fubuki stiffened.

Tatsumaki clenched her hands at what her (Empathy) picked up from her.

"I have been forced to… reconsider some things lately. About many things."

She looked into her sister's eyes, Tatsumaki's new height letting her stare straight into her sister's eyes. "Tell it to me honestly, Fubuki. Do you think differently?"

Fubuki froze, unable to say anything for a moment.

Tatsumaki didn't care.

Her feelings were easy for her (Empathy) to pick up.

"Speak up." she said bluntly. "Trying to hide anything is pointless when I can feel the truth from your emotions."

Fubuki took a deep breath, then stared at Tatsumaki square in the eyes.

"I suffered greatly because of you." she bluntly replied.

Tatsumaki's jaw clenched.

"How?" she demanded.

"You want a list?" Fubuki deadpanned.

Tatsumaki's look made it clear that she had no patience for sarcasm.

Fubuki sighed.

"I spent my childhood and teenage years without any friends because of you. Did you never wonder why we were always together as we grew up?"

"I just thought you loved me more than anyone else. You're my sister." Tatsumaki replied, matter-of-fact.

Fubuki snorted bitterly.

"No. It's that everyone else was terrified of you, students and teachers alike. They all shunned me, because of you. No one dared talk to me, play with me, or do anything with me because you terrified everybody. I lost count of the number of times parents warned their children to stay away from either of us because of you."

Tatsumaki stayed silent for a moment.

"Then you were obviously better off without them in the first place."

"This." Fubuki declared, pointing at her. "This is the exact kind of thinking that made me miserable my whole life! You might be fine being alone, sister, but I'm not! Do you have any idea how much I suffered because of this? I had no one but you my whole life, because you left no one else approach me! And the worst part? You were better than me at everything! Intelligence, power, influence, everything fell into your grasp without you even trying! I lived, suffocating under your omnipresent shadow all of my life! The only thing I had over you was beauty- and look at you now." Fubuki shook her head, a bittersweet expression on her face.

Tatsumaki stared at her, before speaking softly. "I only ever wanted to help you."

Fubuki stared back, before closing her eyes, shoulders slumping. "I know." she whispered. "And that made it so much worse."

Tatsumaki blinked, and Fubuki stared at her with a complex mix of emotions.

"If you had hated me, deliberately tormented me, I could have hated you freely." Fubuki admitted. "But you didn't. You never did. No matter how much you disagreed with me, no matter how much your presence suffocated me, you were always trying to be kind. You loved me, even when you did things I hated."

Fubuki slumped harder. "I tried, you know? To hate you, I mean. For a time, I even came to believe I succeeded, and it turned me bitter and cold and cruel. But… I never hated you, not truly. I just fooled myself into believing it for a time."

She shook her head.

Then she pinned Tatsumaki with a fierce look. "Sister, I love you." she declared, and Tatsumaki stiffened at the Truth of that statement echoed through her Empathic senses. "But you have lived with a curse inside your heart ever since Blast saved you. A curse that prevents you from being the woman I know that you can be. A curse that had pushed you to live alone, stand alone, against all that the world can throw at you, and I… I don't want that for you. You've been trying to protect me almost your entire life. You stopped trusting others to protect me, at first to protect me from adults that would use me for my powers, and then from anyone or anything that would do me harm. At first, I was frightened by you, by how much you always tried to isolate me. That's the real reason I created the Blizzard Group, as a way to use the power they granted me to move past that. But then…"

She looked away, before staring back into Tatsumaki's eyes, her green eyes fierce and passionate.

"Then I started to think about what true strength was. And I started to understand you more, little by little. So I will gather allies that even you can trust in. And one day, I'll come for you, and I won't leave you all by yourself anymore. I'll save you, sister, in a way that you can't do by yourself, because that's what it means for me, to be a hero."

Tatsumaki stared at the teary eyes and emotional smile on her sister's face.

For a long, long moment, she said nothing, simply staring in silence.

Then she spoke.

"How is your training with Aeon going?"

Fubuki blinked. "What?"

Tatsumaki stood up. "Come." she ordered, her tone of voice making it clear that it was not a request.

She created a portal, one leading to where Aeon and her went to train in another dimension.

Her sister followed, visibly confused, but Tatsumaki radiated only a single emotion to her senses:

Determination.

They stood facing one another on the desert planet, the portal closing, their eyes fixed on each other.

"Show me everything that you have learned. Hold nothing back. If I'm not satisfied, I will break the bones of every single one of your Blizzard Group such that they will never become heroes again." Tatsumaki coldly declared.

Fubuki stiffened.

"Sister-"

"I can do it now if you prefer." Tatsumaki bluntly threatened, eyes cold.

Fubuki glared at her, before giving her a stiff nod.

"Fine."

And with that, the fight was on.

Tatsumaki's eyes widened when she felt space and time being bent and outright broken, even as hundreds of rocks began floating around her sister, were crushed and turned into deadly sharp needles, and sent at her with the strength and speed of railgun-propelled shots.

Ones further boosted by the way Fubuki bent the local space-time continuum.

Something like that could easily kill even some low Dragon-level threats in a few shots, depending on their toughness.

Tatsumaki immediately waved her hand, creating a shield of Space and Time that deflected all the incoming shots.

She countered-attacked by bringing her other hand down, gravity increasing a thousand times over on the entire planet instantly.

Instead of trying to tough it out Fubuki dimensionally shifted, the increase in gravity failing utterly at harming her as a result.

Tatsumaki raised an eyebrow, before taking hold of all the broken rocks created by her latest attack and sending them all at Fubuki- while simultaneously adjusting their dimensional frequency to the one her sister was currently in.

Fubuki replied by teleporting right in front of Tatsumaki, a blade made of weaponized dimensional edges and broken space-time continuum shaped in the form of a sword headed straight for her.

Tatsumaki expected her shield to protect her- only for her eyes to bulge in shock when instead the sword passed through like it wasn't there.

Her mind supplied the reason- the make-up of the sword had been deliberately tweaked to avoid the dimensional frequency of her shield for just the split-second that it passed through her shield.

No doubt her sister's familiarity with Tatsumaki's powers helped her greatly on that one.

Forced on the defensive, Tatsumaki took a step back and warped away from the attack.

Fubuki's eyes bugged out in shock when a short-lived black hole was left in her place, the black hole quickly destabilizing and exploding.

Fubuki finched back, her own shield glowing brightly from the shockwaves of the explosion, and Tatsumaki wasted no time, creating one of the culmination of her own efforts to grow stronger between her hands.

Aeon had told Tatsumaki that she needed to be more than a mere tornado to stand at his level, and Tatsumaki fully intended to rise to the challenge.

And so it was that Tatsumaki created a bolt of pure conceptual Entropy, and shot it at Fubuki when she was still recovering from the explosion.

Fubuki stared at the bolt in shock, feeling enough of its nature through her senses to know that being hit by that would be Very Bad News, before the woman gritted her teeth and teleported away.

Only for the bolt to immediately change course to keep pursuing her.

Fubuki stiffened at the sight, before her eyes narrowed and she threw a rock at it.

The rock hit it… and promptly ceased to exist, everything that made up its existence coming to a Final End instantly.

The bolt kept coming, not even slightly weakened by what happened.

Fubuki flinched, trying to think of how she was going to break that technique-

But by then, it was too late.

"You forgot about me."

Fubuki stiffened, but then her sister poke her in the back.

Power enough to break a star slammed into Fubuki's psychic strength, and the helpless woman could only gasp and fall down towards the ground as control of her power was temporarily taken away from her.

Tatsumaki took her in a telekinetic grip, absently waving her hand to dismiss the still moving bolt of Entropy.

When they both touched ground, Fubuki glared up at Tatsumaki-

Who blinked when, for just a fraction of a second, her grip on her sister's powers faltered.

She was quick to slam her grip on her sister's powers back on, but to make her falter even for an instant…

She smiled.

"You've gotten stronger, Fubuki."

In more ways than one, she couldn't help but think, remembering Fubuki's little speech.

Tatsumaki released her grip on her sister's powers, hesitated…

And then turned around and created a portal back to Fubuki's home.

"Come on. I… I need to talk to you."

Fubuki stared at her, blinking at the sudden mix of nervousness, satisfaction, joy and more overflowing in her sister's heart.

Then she stood up and followed after her.

-

The two sisters sipped at their tea, both of them thoughtful.

Fubuki about the strange mix of emotions she could feel in her sister, and Tatsumaki about what she had seen of Fubuki's growth, not only as a fighter but as a person.

Finally, Fubuki spoke up. "Sister, what's troubling you? I can feel that you had something on your mind from the moment you arrived."

Tatsumaki bit her lip, before letting out a long sigh.

"You said that I don't trust anyone. That I don't let myself do so. That's… not entirely true."

Fubuki blinked. "Sister?"

Tatsumaki glanced at her. "Tell me, what do you think of Aeon?"

"Aeon?" repeated Fubuki. "In general, or as a hero?"

"The first." replied Tatsumaki.

Fubuki hummed in thought. "He's… well, he's a god, but it's more than that. He's smart, as expected of a god. He's powerful beyond belief. But beyond that… I think he's a complex man. Prone to making jokes and trying to lighten the mood, freely laughing seemingly without a care in the world. Charismatic, oh yes, and utterly terrifying to fight against. But if you dig deeper, he's someone who obviously went through hell and came back broken in many ways, and stronger in many more. Despite his ability to laugh freely, I have to wonder if it's not done partly to put the people around him more at ease, and to try to hide what lies beneath the surface. Members of the S-Class tend to be monsters in their own right in their own ways, but that man is someone who very likely has a hundred plans on how to best kill someone even before he's finished shaking their hand."

Fubuki shook her head. "He's not a bad person, I'm sure of it, but I have a feeling that it's a very good thing he's not our enemy, because he'd be a terrifying foe to have. Still, he's someone I've come to respect. He's incredibly powerful but still respects the opinions and beliefs of others, genuinely cares about people, and he's willing to suffer immensely for their sake."

She pursed her lips. "Perhaps too much. I'm certainly not going to forget what horrific wounds he took just to teach me a valuable lesson."

Tatsumaki nodded.

Then she let out a trembling breath.

"And if I told you that I'm planning on pursuing him romantically?"

Fubuki froze, eyes bulging in shock.

"Sister?"

Tatsumaki gave her a shockingly shy smile, her hands pressed tightly around her cup of tea. "You heard me."

Fubuki kept staring in shock, as if the very idea of her sister with anyone blew her mind.

Then a glint unlike any Tatsumaki had ever seen in her sister's eyes appeared.

"Tell me everything." she ordered, an eager smile on her face.

Tatsumaki blinked, but after a moment did as ordered.

It felt… strange, to talk to her sister about romance.

Hell, the very fact that she found anyone attractive at all was something of a first. The only person she had ever looked up to before was Blast, and she didn't see him that way.

But Aeon had changed that. The spars and training they shared, the long talks about countless subjects, from psychic abilities to the concept of heroism to Humanity in general, the way she actually looked forward to just spending time with someone…

Even the by no means innocent joy she felt at actually looking her age physically, and how she liked the way Aeon had looked at her as an attractive woman in her own right at times.

She was… happy with him. And glad to have someone who understood her, who supported her, but also someone willing to stand up to her and tell her if she was doing something wrong.

For the first time in perhaps her entire life, she cared about things like how she looked to a man, and if she could attract that man's attention with her beauty.

And the looks Aeon gave her at times, ones that made it clear he was attracted to her, didn't displease or disgust her.

If anything, she was happy, even proud when she caught those looks.

And yes, she was attracted to him physically. He was tall, handsome, and very, very strong.

Tatsumaki was self-aware enough to know that the last part was important to her, and that Aeon fit the bill of her desires in a man to a T.

"And the fact that he's already married?" asked Fubuki.

Tatsumaki shrugged. "His wife actually talked to me and made it clear that she was just fine with us becoming lovers."

Fubuki blinked, and Tatsumaki explained the talk the both of them had.

Her sister bit her lip in thought, brow furrowed, before looking at her.

"And what about you? Are you fine with it?"

Tatsumaki paused, then shrugged.

"At one point, Oedon mentioned that part of the reason that she was fine with Aeon having many lovers was that she was confident in both herself and the strength of her love for one another. It's… something that I can respect. She doesn't see the other women as competition, because as far as she's concerned it isn't one. And she recommended that I did the same. If I'm confident in myself and the love Aeon and I have for one another, then nothing else matters."

Fubuki hummed in thought. "And you trust her?"

"Well they have been married for many, many years now, so I think she knows what she's speaking about." Tatsumaki pointed out.

"True." admitted Fubuki.

Tatsumaki didn't mention another reason for why she was attracted to Aeon being one of their first talks.

His words about wanting her to become a goddess in her own right had not left her mind since he had spoken them, and Tatsumaki had decided to go for it.

One day, she would be a goddess in her own right, one strong enough to truly deserve to stand at Aeon's side.

And maybe it was her pride talking, but she couldn't see herself ending up with anyone else but someone she would consider worthy of her, and the only man she knew right now who fit the bill was Aeon.

All in all, there were many reasons that Aeon was the man for her.

True, the fact he was already married was not the best, but she respected Oedon, so spending more time with her would hardly be a bad thing.

Also, from a certain point of view…

Having her man be surrounded by extraordinary women, if anything, only furthered showed how great he was, personally.

It would be one thing if Aeon had no more standards than a woman's beauty, but it obviously wasn't the case considering all she knew of his lovers, all of them being powerful and worthy of the S-class if they were to actually join him in this world.

Tatsumaki wasn't attracted to other women, but if she had to share her man with others, then she could take pride in the fact that they would all be powerful women in their own rights.

And two of those women were full blown goddesses, so there was that, too.

Actually, considering Aeon's words to her, she wondered how long it would take before the other lovers he had would be goddesses in their own right…

Tatsumaki smirked slightly. If nothing else, the idea of having lovers made entirely of divinities did sooth her pride quite a bit…

"So, you're going for it, then?"

Tatsumaki looked at her sister…

And then she grinned. "I am."

Her sister's eyes lit up. "Great! We'll need to go shopping, though. Those black dresses are fine, but you really need to have more clothes, and I'm sure Aeon would enjoy seeing you in more dresses than just the same old ones. Oh, and maybe we need to add-"

Tatumaki blinked slowly.

Somehow, she had the impression that she had made a terrible mistake.

The look in her sister's eyes sent her a premonition of doom…

Nah, it was probably nothing, right?

Right?

-

"-and as you all can see, the devastation is continuing with no end in sight! The threat level of the monster has already been raised to Dragon, but for the time being no Heroes has been able to stop the rampage of-"

I stared at the destruction happening on-screen, a slight frown on my face.

Buildings wrecked, roads broken and collapsed, people screaming and running around like headless chickens, and news reports showing the few brave heroes who dared to stand in the monster's path having been taken out already.

They weren't dead, but they certainly were in no condition to fight anymore.

Then I blinked when a familiar presence suddenly appeared in the room.

"Blast." I greeted with a nod.

"Aeon." he replied, his gaze flickering towards the television, before his expression tightened.

"That's part of why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you about-"

"The swiftly growing numbers and power of the monsters?" I finished knowingly.

He stared at me.

"You already noticed, then." He mused.

I nodded, looking back at the live reporting.

"I knew that God would not react passively to news of my and the others' presence in this world. No less than three gods, freely walking around while he was sealed and bound? Oh yes, that was going to piss him right off. Normally he would have waited, the seals are breaking anyway so why waste power? But with us so publicly known and being worshiped in this world, yeah, he was never going to take this lying down. Even if it meant weakening himself, he was going to try and strike at us. If not directly, then indirectly. I'm not blind to the fact that a significant number of the more powerful monsters have appeared around areas known for being full of our worshippers and religious buildings built in our names, Blast."

The hero grimaced, then sighed. "We're doing what we can, and with God spreading his powers like that it does make our work to contain him personally easier, but on the other hand the numbers of beings touched by his power are increasing. If this keeps going, I worry that the Association might not be able to handle things anymore."

I smiled. "You should have a bit more faith, Blast. And yes, I know the irony of me saying this. But seriously, neither I nor the Association sat on our asses. We all can see the writing on the wall as well as you can, Blast. I've been spending a lot of time training the heroes to grow stronger. And that's not even mentioning me going around and getting agreements from various individuals or groups to join as heroes, or at least as auxiliary forces, if the situation does indeed become untenable with just the forces of the Association. I managed to convince many martial artists to consider helping out heroes if need be, same with swordmasters. And that's without considering our worshippers, Blast. Having a good chunk of humanity ready and willing to fight for their right to live is no small thing. Have you seen how many people have signed up for martial arts lessons lately? Or other ways to defend themselves if need be? Mankind is gearing up a fight- you don't need to worry about it, my friend. When the time comes, it will be ready. I've made sure of it."

Blast pursed his lips, hesitating.

Then he sent a glance at the news.

"It doesn't seem to be going quite so well, over there." Blast pointed out.

I merely chuckled.

"Actually, that monster is about to make the worst possible life choice it could possibly have made."

Blast blinked.

I smirked.

"It's about to hit a hospital for kids."

-

"Aaah!"

"We're all going to die!"

"Evacuate the children! Evacuate the-"

"We can't! Many won't survive being moved in a hurry, and even those who can can't go anywhere- the streets are chock-full with people already!"

"Damnation! Isn't there anything we can do?!"

"Bwwaaaaaaah!"

Six-year old Amellia Renhart cried, while around her all the adults ran around yelling and screaming.

The ground shuddered at every step of the gigantic monster outside, and she could feel the shaking growing stronger.

She had no idea where her parents were, if they were desperately trying to reach the hospital where the doctors were trying to heal her from her sickness, or if the monster already had hurt them.

Amelia didn't really like all the medicine she had to take, but at least the doctors were very kind, and she had even met the goddess who was giving money to the hospital once.

Lucy had the most beautiful eyes Amelia had ever seen, all glowing and full of pretty colors, and she had a very kind smile as well.

Also, they had made a beautiful drawing of Amelia and her family together, one that always seemed to give her strength when the doctors' medicine and their machines really tired her out.

Her parents had talked with Lucy, and they had been much happier that Amelia remembered them being after that talk, with a lot less sadness in their eyes than usual, their smiles much more genuine.

But Lucy wasn't there right now, and all the screaming and yelling was scaring her, along with all the other kids they had gathered in the room.

"Come now, little one. There is no need to cry."

Amelia looked up with teary eyes, blinking at the smiling red eyed, silver haired woman kneeling before her.

"There, there. It's alright. Look at you, you'd be much prettier without those tears, don't you think?" the woman said gently, a tissue in her hand gently drying her tears.

Amelia blinked again, but relaxed slightly. The woman was really pretty, and her eyes, despite being bright red, seemed very kind.

Her smile, too, was very gentle. It reminded her of Lucy, except maybe even more gentle.

Amelia sniffled, then looked at her curiously, tilting her head, a few red strands of hair falling to the side, her teary blue eyes looking at the woman before her and thinking that she seemed like she was familiar somehow.

The kind woman finished wiping her face, her smile growing at the sight, her fingers gently tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

"There, much better, don't you think?"

Amelia nodded. "Thank you." she whispered.

A warm, beautiful smile answered her. "You're very welcome, little one."

The ground shuddered violently, and more people screamed, Amelia whimpering in fear.

"Shhh. It'll be alright." gently said the kind woman, a hand gently stroking her hair.

"There's a big monster coming." Amelia whimpered.

"I know. Don't worry, though. It won't harm you, or anyone else here."

Amelia blinked up at the kind lady, blue eyes fearful but hopeful. "Really?"

"Really." the kind woman said gently, but firmly.

The ground shuddered again, even more violently, and the kind woman's head turned towards where the monster had to be.

Then she looked back at Amelia, her gentle smile not even twitching. "Can you do something for me, little one?"

Amelia nodded.

"I want you to stay here and not move, and wait for me to return, okay? There is something I need to take care of. It won't take long, I promise."

Amelia looked at her wide wide eyes. "You're leaving?"

"Just for a moment. There is a beast outside, and I want to have a few words with it about how important children are." the kind woman said firmly.

Amelia blinked, confused.

Then her eyes widened. "You're going to talk to the monster?! You shouldn't! It's mean, it will try to hurt you!"

The woman chuckled, the sound warm and amused.

"Fear not, little one. The beast is no threat to me."

The kind woman stood up, dusting off her dress and giving her one last smile before she-

Amelia blinked.

… Did she just walk through the wall?

Amelia got up from her seat, running towards a nearby window that showed the outside.

She froze when she saw the monster, her blue eyes going wide in terror as she saw its gigantic maw pointed at the hospital, two glowing red eyes staring at it.

Where the kind lady's eyes were warm and gentle, those red orbs made her freeze in terror, and she felt like they were staring straight at her with only hunger and hate.

"Beast."

Amelia shuddered, blinking rapidly as the monster looked away, Amelia glancing towards where it-

Her eyes widened, a gasp escaping her. That was the kind lady, and she was outside, looking up at the monster!

"Oh no!" she muttered. "You need to hide!" she said fearfully.

The monster growled, baring teeth longer than even the kind lady was tall, and Amelia noticed that the kind lady was very tall- and yet so very small before the mean monster!

"I will not let you harm those inside the hospital. Begone."

Amelia shuddered. The voice was that of the kind lady, but there was weight to it that made her feel small.

But… Not a bad kind of small. Kind of like when her mom gave her a hug.

Warm and loving and so, so very kind.

Somehow though, she had a feeling the monster didn't feel that at all.

Instead, it seem to flinch back-

And then its jaws snapped towards the kind lady!

Amelia gasped again, eyes wide-

And then it felt like everything happened very quickly.

The kind lady extended a hand.

A long, beautiful silver and red spear appeared in her hand.

Faster than Amelia thought anything could be, the kind lady threw the spear straight at the monster's head.

And suddenly, there was a biiiiiig hole in the monster!

Amelia's mouth dropped open, even as the monster froze, then fell down, slumping on the ground.

For a moment, it felt like the world stood still, before the spear reappeared in the kind lady's hand, then disappeared again.

Amelia's eyes widened when she could see things moving very quickly in the distance, broken buildings fixing themselves before her eyes, roads becoming whole and more.

Then the kind lady turned, and her eyes stared straight at Amelia.

Amelia barely had time to blink before the kind lady suddenly appeared at her side, frowning slightly at her.

"Amelia. I thought that I told you not to move?" she said softly.

Amelia flinched, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. It's just you went through the wall, and, and-"

A gentle hand fell on her head, stopping her even as the kind lady sighed and smiled.

"I understand. Children will always be curious after all."

Amelia blushed, fidgeting even as the gentle hand stroked her hair for a moment before leaving.

She pouted slightly. She kinda liked how gently she was stroking her hair…

"Come on, then. Why don't we do something together while we wait for your parents to arrive?"

Amelia's eyes lit up.

"Can we do a drawing? I made an awesome one before! Follow me, I'll show you!"

The kind lady laughed softly as Amelia took her by the wrist and guided her towards her room, where the drawing she made with Lucy was.

Then she blinked. "Oh." she blushed. "I forgot to ask your name." she said shyly.

Red eyes twinkled at her. "Oedon, little one. My name is Oedon."

-

"Bang."

"Aeon."

I stared at the dojo around us, currently empty except for me and Silver Fang.

"Did you know?" the no longer old-looking martial art master questioned.

I sighed, shoulders slumping slightly.

"I had foreseen it, but Free Will is what it is. I didn't want to act upon what might be, when there was a chance that I could be wrong."

Bang fell silent, before sighing as well.

"Self-fulfilling prophecies, huh?"

"Essentially, yes."

He closed his eyes. "I see. I can't argue with that. It's not like I hadn't noticed that…"

He fell silent again, expression sad and regretful.

"It wasn't your fault, Bang." I said gently, putting a comforting hand on his right shoulder. "No matter how much we want to help, children will make their own path in life. And much like everybody else, they will make mistakes along the way. You should know that quite well yourself, considering your past."

"I know." he said softly. "I had just hoped to avoid him from the same regrets I gathered over the years."

I nodded. "I understand, but wisdom is not so easily gained, and even harder to share. It would not be so praised if it was. Sometimes, the only way to gain it is the hard way."

Bang said nothing for a time, his expression distant, his mind obviously heavy with the weight of old memories coming back to the front of his mind because of recent events.

"Is there anything I can do?" he finally asked softly.

I said nothing for a moment, though I actually peered through time into what the future held.

Then I nodded. "In time, you will have the opportunity to try and reach him. By yourself you might not be able to fully change him… But you will be one of the cornerstones of change for the better. It will not be easy, Bang. But… There is a chance to bring him back from the brink, even when it will seem like all hope is lost."

Bang released a breath, his shoulders loosening slightly.

"I see."

He turned and bowed deeply. "Thank you for your guidance. If you will excuse me, I would like to remain alone with my thoughts for a time."

"Of course. If you need anything, feel free to let me know."

I bowed back, before making my way out.

Behind me, Bang's expression hardened.

"My foolish student… I will not let you walk the same path I did." he let out a breath. "Garou… I promise you. No matter what, I will save you, as my brother once saved me."

I said nothing. Garou had done as he did in canon, beating up everybody else in Bang's dojo while the man was away.

The beginning of Garou the monster had been set in stone long before Bang met him.

Still, I hadn't lied. Garou could still be saved.

It would just take a Hero's overwhelming might to do it, along with an old master's love for his prized student, who he saw as a son…

And a young boy who would make even the monster's heart weep for his sake.

I smiled slightly.

I wasn't one for mercy towards evil.

But that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate a good redemption story.

-

Hero Association HQ, A-City.

"So, you're one of the gods who watch over this world."

I smiled down at the new S-Class hero, who was looking up at me with great interest.

"I am. And you are Child Emperor. I have to admit, for someone who isn't even quite 10 years old to reach the S-Class, that is quite the impressive feat indeed."

"Oh, well." Child Emperor blushed slightly, smiling at the praise. "Thank you. It wasn't easy, but I'm proud to be here."

I chuckled. "I wonder if you're going to think like that after meeting the other S-class members. They are… quite the handful." I said with amusement.

He blinked. "Surely it isn't that bad. They're the greatest heroes in the world!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, they are." I freely admitted. "They just have the ego to match."

He stared at me.

I snorted at the look on his face.

"Trust me, trying to make them work together is like herding cats. Super-powered cats, at that."

"... I was always more of a dog person myself." he muttered.

I held back a twitch.

Quite obviously, his intelligence didn't indicate good taste in pets.

Ah well.

"Yes, well. Just don't expect most of them to work together well unless someone runs interference and keeps everyone in line." I said dryly.

"Surely they aren't all that bad?" he questioned, frowning.

I nodded. "Thankfully no. Some of them are actually quite capable of working with others. Pig God, Silver Fang, the Twin Huntresses, and a few others. Just… Tatsumaki is not a team player, and neither are Flashy Flash or Atomic Samurai. That doesn't mean they can't work together, it's just… prone to complications." I said with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"What about King, then?" wondered Child Emperor.

At that, I chuckled. "King is King. He'll do as he thinks is best. Still, overall he's not a problem. The man is actually incredibly humble, all things considered."

"Really?" Child Emperor asked with some delighted surprise. "I heard a lot about him of course, everybody does, but no one seems to really know how he fights or what he's truly capable of. Does that mean you actually know?"

Considering I trained him, you could say that, I thought with amusement.

"I do indeed." I revealed, which once again seemed to surprise and delight him. "Though out of a desire for his privacy, I will not reveal any details. Besides, I'm sure you saw videos of the black dragon's death?"

"Of course!" he said excitedly. "It's the one good video we have of King fighting! I probably watched it a thousand times over!"

My eyes twinkled with amusement. It was good to see someone who was essentially a child soldier actually act his age.

True, the PR teams of the Associations had spinned Child Emperor's presence as a hero fighting monsters in such a way as to avoid a PR nightmare for sending a child on the frontlines, but it didn't change the fact that someone not even 10 years old shouldn't be fighting for his life.

But being extraordinary meant extraordinary bending of the rules, and so here we were.

"I'm not sure if we can call what happened 'fighting', that dragon never really knew what hit it, but I get your point."

"To be fair, it was facing King." Child Emperor pointed out. "It was never going to be a long fight."

I smirked. I had to admit, that kind of talk would have annoyed me a bit if King had just gotten lucky and had no actual way of doing anything…

But the King of this world actually deserved the respect he was given.

Even if somehow, his insane luck, ability to intimidate and the King Engine in general remained one of his strongest weapons.

Seriously, his crazy luck had only become stronger since he became a Gamer, and the kinds of crazy ways monsters keep dying around him just boggles the mind.

What was the point of training him on how to fight when most monsters died of heart attacks from a single look from him combined with the King Engine?!

And don't even get me started on the times his luck acted up, and monsters suddenly died from random meteorites falling from the sky, or lightning bolts striking at the same place three times in a row, or that one time a fucking YACHT fell on top of a monster.

While King was a hundred miles from any big sources of water.

SUCH bullshit.

I shook my head.

"You're more right than you know…" I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Come on, we should get going. The meeting is about to start."

"Oh, right! Let's go."

-

A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the One Punch Man Arc!
First, King! The King is finally here!
And befitting his nature as a comedy character, even when he finally becomes strong, he still can't be fully happy.
Mostly because now, it's his own power fucking him over! King is quite literally that one guy with all kinds of awesome ultimate moves… Except he can't actually use any of them, because his own power keeps killing all the monsters before he can use any of them.
In term of personality, King hasn't changed much post-training, it's just that, where before he was terrified of fighting monsters, he's now somewhere between relieved they keep dying from the weirdest of ways, and being really fucking annoyed that he just can never actually be the awesome hero he thought he would finally becomes.
Expect him meeting Saitama to quickly dissolve into a rant between both of them complaining about their powers fucking them over.
Also, Aeon is staring at the general weirdness that is King by waving wildly in his general direction and screaming about the bullshit of a combined Luck/intimidation-based build.
Meanwhile, Tatsumaki and Fubuki go through character development! Some of the interactions come from the OPM manga, though obviously not all. But hey, Tatsumaki is finally determined to give romance a shot!
And Fubuki discovers the wonders of sisterhood! Particularly, going shopping together, and then sitting back to watch her usually unflappable sister lose all composure when she's going out with Aeon.
Needless to say, she's thoroughly going to enjoy this time where she gets to see her sister as something else than an overpowered monster of might and ego.
We also get news that God is acting up, while Oedon is out there being her awesome self.
And of course, Garou. Again, I won't be going into the Monster Association Arc, I'd like to get to Love Azathoth sometime this year, but at least I can set things up for the events of the manga happening with a few differences in the background.
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, we continue OPM, with even more heroes and more progress in romance…